Time Changes Everything
by hopelessromantic1990
Summary: Bella Swan is a freshman in college.Being shy she doesn't have many friends.Then she meets Edward Cullen.As they continue the year together Bella's life is changed forever. I'm not great at summaries-Please read it,it's really good!-Positive comments onl


It was the end of the spring semester – my freshman year of college was coming to a close and I was letting lose. In short it was party time.

But perhaps I should go back to the beginning. My name is Bella Swan and I'm a freshman in college at this really small private school in New York City. Coming from Forks, Washington it was quite a big change and that did not help me leave behind my shyness in the least. I've always been an extremely quiet person and pretty much stuck with my very small group of friends that most of whom I'd known since Kindergarten. I'm pretty klutzy so I never got into sports but I loved theatre ever since I was a kid. That's why I came to this school, so far from anything I've ever known, it had a great theatre program and I actually got accepted into it! My first semester was pretty interesting: I became best friends with my roommate Alice and another girl named Angela. I also got involved with the theatre in one of their smaller productions. Despite all that I still kind of felt like an outsider but then came my second semester and Edward Cullen entered my life.

I was working my first big production at the school and knew almost none of the people involved in it. I did recognize some people from the wrap party of the show from the previous semester but I really didn't think they'd remember me – I mean why would they? I quickly became known by the cast, I was very good at my job and they appreciated my effort, however I still wouldn't have called them my friends at that point. We were a few weeks into rehearsal when one day I was standing off to the side right after a break had been called and I was actually paying pretty close attention to this guy named Jasper that I sort of had a thing for but then out of nowhere Edward Cullen, who I might add was sort of a celebrity in the school's theatre community and totally good looking in a god like yet still boy next door type way, came up to me and just gave me a huge hug saying hi and asking me how I was! I was shocked to no belief so I sort of just shakily said I was fine and then asked how he was, while awkwardly hugging him back. I'm pretty sure Jasper noticed my awkwardness, because he then pulled Edward by the arm and was just like "ok, let's go Eddie" leaving me totally baffled. I had only met Edward once before that instance and it was while we were both drunk at the party for the last show of the first semester and though we danced together I truly believed he hadn't remembered me. Rehearsals continued pretty normally from that point but once the show opened we started spending more time together; hanging out in the green room together, joking around and just having fun. I guess the friendship really started to form when I started asking him for advice on how to get closer with the theatre people who were actually in my year. This was all really great and made me really happy but things only started to get interesting on the second to last night of the show when he invited me to his suite in the senior dorms for a party.

I knew I couldn't turn it down but I was terrified. I had never been to one of the exclusive parties that I'd heard so much about so it was pretty intimidating, especially since I was out of liqueur and would be going to the party sober. I arrived at the door and he saw me immediately, pulled me inside with a big hug and told me how glad he was I came. I told him I was glad to be there too and then he asked me if I was drinking. When I said no he dragged me to the bathroom and taught me how to do a shot using the sink as a chaser! It was extremely strange but hysterically funny at the same time; afterward we walked back to his room arm in arm and he said he was glad we were friends.

The following day was the closing show so everyone was high with emotion while in the green room. The lead was singing some romantic ballad to warm up his voice and I was sitting on a table slightly across the room from Edward when all of a sudden he came up to me and grabbed my arms, pulled me off the table and began ballroom dancing with me, the whole room was watching which usually would have caused me deep embarrassment but with him I didn't mind. Prior to that moment we had had many discussions about my inability to dance and so when we finished our tour around the room he whispered to me, "and you say you can't dance", which just caused me to giggle out loud even more then I already was.

I was sad that the show was over but when I showed up the next day for rehearsal for the next show he was there! I was overwhelmed with joy and we hugged each other in excitement, we really were becoming very good friends. The weeks sped by in a whirlwind, punctuated by parties, days with friends, and a lot of fun.

The first party we both attended was themed as an 8th grade dance and so it was all old music that we had grown up with that I a)knew every word to and b) could actually dance to – sort of… I went to the party with my friend Jessica and we were definitely dressed according to theme: I wore a dark grey jumper that had a pink and white diamond pattern with a white t-shirt underneath, thick dancer tights with sneakers and a butterfly necklace; I wore my hair in a braid. Jessica didn't go as hard core but wore a denim skirt with a plain white t-shirt and flip flops with braided pig tails. We met up in my room and then headed over to the coffeehouse where the nights antics waited for our arrival. We danced to the classics – songs like MMM Bop, Allstar, and of course the many hits of Back street boys, N'Sync and the spice girls…. We were just there to have a good time so we didn't make a big deal of saying hi to people – if we saw them we saw them, if we didn't we didn't….Edward was there though. I was in the middle of being twirled by my friend Mike Newton to the sweet sounds of Avril Lavigne when he came over and said in a very playful manner "What are you doing with my girl?"

"Your girl? I believe she's my girl", said Mike. They were clearly both being playful so I simply responded to it by saying, "Boys, there's no need to fight over me – I don't mind sharing!" It was something I typically wouldn't say but it went with the playful nature of the conversation so it flowed and I didn't even blush. However the moment was interrupted when this guy Eric, who I knew pretty well, stole me away to THE STAGE to dance with him, Edward followed, as well as Jessica. Edward tried to steal me away but Eric wasn't going to let him get me so he gave up and somehow ended up dragging Jessica to the bath room with him, I was afraid for what might be about to happen so I broke away and followed them, proceeding to bang on the bathroom door till they let me in – turned out they were just talking away from the noise of the speakers but I wasn't going to leave them alone. Truth was, I loved Jessica to death but she knew I liked Edward and I wouldn't have put it past her to move in on him while I had my back turned. We spent the rest of the night hanging out with Edward and a few other people and as the party wrapped up we ended up going back to Edward's suite with him and his friends. We were expecting an amazing after party but in actuality Edward pretty much past out once we arrived and the rest of the crowd wasn't far behind him. We decided to leave, so Jessica headed out while I helped Edward to the bathroom, said goodnight and then met her outside the building.

Rehearsals continued and the seasons finally begun to change. That year we had what seemed like a never ending winter and so as the days became warmer and the sky became sunnier the whole campus seemed to head to the lawn to do everything from play Frisbee to just bask in the warm rays, and everything in between…

It was on one of these sunny hang out days that I felt I really had come out of my shell; Angela and Alice were both busy but I didn't want to be coped up in my dorm the whole day, and so I headed to the lawn alone but met up with a bunch of people I knew from the show and actually had a really good time…Edward saw this and pulled me to the side to tell me he was proud of me – he was always telling me I needed to be less shy and open up more, so I guess he saw this as me taking his advice…the day wasn't all that exciting but I think that moment helped form what became the intense friendship that the two of us shared. We ended up eating dinner together and then going to one of the smaller shows on campus that a few of our friends were involved in, since we were off from rehearsal that day. We spent our time talking about our lives, and our home towns, music and shows… We walked back to the main campus together as the sun set in a kaleidoscope of oranges, pinks, and golds; it had been a perfect day and by the end of it I felt like we had known each other for years.

Time continued to pass, and rehearsals continued in a rocky manner. The stage manager was a complete idiot so I was pretty much doing her job as well as my job; the cast loved me for this responsible, capable part of myself and come opening night it showed. The actual show went amazingly well, without one hitch – my mother and her new husband Phil even came up to see it! They took my roommate, Alice, and I out for dinner afterward and then dropped us off at this local club where the opening night party was being held. As Alice and I walked in the room erupted in applause – for me! I was so shocked – and moved – that I was literally speechless and a few tears shed from eyes. Everyone gave me huge hugs and lots of warm greetings. I saw Edward socializing with a group of people in the back but I knew we'd see each other at some point so I didn't press it. Alice and I got drinks and continued to mingle; taking photos and sharing laughs. Alice didn't know too many people so I made sure to introduce her and by the end of the night she was one of the crowd. The night was wrapping up and Edward and I finally found our way to each other. Upon seeing each other we kissed cheeks and hugged and then I introduced him to Alice. They had a decent conversation about my inability to dance, which I laughed right along with and then he said he was leaving. Not gonna lie, I was a smidge disappointed but I let it go and we ended up leaving about an hour later after we'd danced to our hearts content.

The next night was one of the upperclassmen's birthdays and so after the show most of the cast ran off to change into their 1920's apparel, as the theme of the party was to make it like a speak easy from the prohibition period. I wasn't invited, but didn't really mind since I didn't know the girl….however as I was walking back to my room a number of people, including Edward, told me I should come. I was really nervous – I didn't feel 100% comfortable going to parties when I was invited, let alone when I was not…but I talked it over with Alice and she said I should definitely go. As a result, I called Edward asking for directions and for the specifics of how to dress….he was very vague regarding the dress code and also refused to give me directions – telling me to just meet him at the shuttle.

The shuttle left on the 40's so that left me 8 minutes to dress and run there or else I'd be hiking it to the off campus apartments where the party was being held. I pulled a million things out of my closet, finally deciding on a black and white striped shirt with black leggings and black flats --- my rational was that mimes were big in the 1920s….everyone said I looked cute so I guess it kinda worked. I made a mad dash to the van and caught it just as it was about to pull away!! I walked into the party with Edward which made my fear melt right away. I was just starting to really enjoy myself when it was busted by the public safety squad for noise complaints. We all hiked it back to campus and the group fragmented off into little groups. Edward, myself and a few other people went back to this girl named Rosalie's room and hung out there for a while until Edward decided he wanted to go to bed; he was pretty much the only reason I was still awake so, while holding hands, I walked him back to his room, said goodnight and then headed to my room.

It was the weekend of partying as the next night there was a grand night time hang out session on the lawn. Someone brought a mini radio so there was even music! We all danced and talked and it was a very relaxed atmosphere – until it started to rain! Most people headed back to their dorms, thinking the night had ended, but a group of people who live in the apartments invited Edward, myself, and a few other people to go back with them and continue the party. It was extremely chill – we all basically were just hanging out on couches and talking about the show and school and life. Some people were singing, I joined Edward and this guy James in a very bad version of a song from Hair. After that Edward and I ended up cuddling together on one of the bigger couches, ignoring the rest of the room we spoke in whispers, and talked about our friendship and how it was developing. It was getting late by then and so we decided to head back to the main campus, we walked back, just the two of us, hand in hand and that's when it happened – he said he loved me.

I was so surprised I could only utter "what?"

He kinda smiled and looked at me as we stopped walking in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain, and he said "I love you."

Still stunned, I paused and caught my breath before saying, "I love you too."

Then, for the first time, we kissed. It was short but perfect. It was simple, nothing extraordinary, just a peck, but I loved the few seconds that it lasted. It made the evening the most utmost, amazing level of perfect it could ever have possibly reached. It seemed as if we floated the rest of the way back to campus; he walked me back to my room where he kissed me good night and then as if I wasn't already in a dream world I drifted to sleep, anxious for what the next day would bring – and to tell Alice ALL ABOUT IT!

I awoke the next day to find Alice working on a paper while watching a movie – I made her pause it and then filled her in on all of the juicy details of my night, I couldn't tell if she wanted to rejoice or slap me for making her listen to such a cheesy story….but she's my best friend so she put up with it regardless…We then proceeded to go to brunch. It was a beautiful day with blue skies, warm sunshine, and just a light breeze to keep it cool enough for a light sweater. As we made our way through the busy dining hall quite a number of people from my group of theatre friends, as well as a few who I wasn't friends with, asked what had happened between Edward and I the previous night – it was quite the scandal. I actually ran into Edward while waiting on line for an omelet; he put his arm around me and we just sort of laughed at the rumors that were flying about us, but deep down I was truly curious as to where we stood…

We had the show again that night, so we spent the hour or so before hand goofing around being silly. Sharing sweet intimate moments that reflected the night before, but then at the same time maintaining our regular friendship-y like ways. I was utterly confused. The curtain rose, and that ended almost all communication between us for the next 2 ½ hours but somewhere around the middle of the second act he texted me about a party he was having in his suite later that night. The theme: Punk.

I wanted to kill him – you see I am a very simply dressed girl – I guess you could call me preppy if you had to give me a label but I think I'm even too simplistic for that… Taking it a step further there was not an ounce of my being that believed I would ever pull off a punk costume, let alone put a punk costume together based on my wardrobe…However, after the show ended I ran back to my room and explained the situation to Alice and Angela and the two of them helped me construct my outfit. As we did so they grilled me on whether or not I had any new details as to the status of Edward and I's relationship – which was still up in the air….they told me I needed to find out at some point that night and I told them I'd try…Meanwhile I was dressed as punk as I would ever be: I had on black leggings with black pleather thigh high platform boots that added about 6 inches to my height (I had worn them for Halloween…). In addition to that I wore a grey quarter sleeve shirt that had black stripes across it and then I put safety pins in my pants... To accessorize I wore simple black stud earrings and then put on the heaviest amount of black eyeliner and mascara that I thought my eyes could handle and finished off the ensemble by pulling my hair into a high ponytail. I looked far from my regular self.

They sent me off with wishes of good luck and as I walked across the campus to Edward's suite I felt like an idiot. The looks I got from people while walking were indescribable…luckily I ran into a few people I knew on the way that were also headed to the party, so I didn't feel like as much of an idiot…I arrived at the party and found Edward right away to tell him how much of an idiot I felt like, but he just looked at me, walked over to me, put his arm around my waist and whispered, "Don't. You look sexy."

That alone almost knocked me off of my feet. Then he pushed me one step further and kissed me, right in the center of the room for all to see, but then he walked away. I was going to follow him and demand an explanation but I was ambushed by a group of people from my grade who had new gossip to tell me about this girl I used to know who was roommates with one of them….I spent some time after that talking with various people, dancing and playing a couple of games. After a few hours the crowd unanimously decided to move the party outdoors and so we all relocated to the lawn. Edward and I held hands the entire way and it felt right but then once again we parted once we were with the larger group – talk about confusion…

Despite the drama of what I wasn't sure was my love life or not I was having a great time; it was a beautiful night filled with a warm breeze, a deep blue sky and thousands of diamond like stars. It was while I was talking with my friend Jessica and this girl Rachel that I noticed Edward talking with a mutual friend of ours named Emmet. I decided right then and there that this question in my head needed to be answered so I excused myself from the group and walked toward the library where he and Emmet had been talking. I made the journey in a completely nonchalant manner and upon arriving I told Edward that I had a secret that I needed to tell him in private – no offense to Emmett. Saying "none taken" Emmett walked away leaving Edward and I; he put his arms around me and I put mine around him. Then he asked me, "What do you need to tell me?"

I froze for a second but then as I looked into his gorgeous bronze eyes I began, "Well, the other night ---" at my pause he looked worried so I filled in, "it was great – but"

"But what?" he interrupted me, sounding a little uncertain.

"Well, I just -- where do we stand exactly…I mean – you told me you loved me, I said I loved you – we kissed….but sorry this is stupid…nevermind…."

He looked as confused as I had felt since that had all happened. "No – whatever you're trying to say is not stupid – what's going on? I just don't understand? Are you regretting it??"

"No!" I was shocked he would think such a thing, "no, just I'm a little confused as to where we stand --- like – oh my god I feel so childish asking this but like – are we just really close friends now or –"

"Ohhh" he finally realized what I was asking. "I see – you're wondering the same thing everyone else is…"he chuckled to himself, "whether we're together or not?"

"Yea. I know it's stupid – but I really just was so uncertain, it was kinda driving me crazy…"

Throughout all of this we had been walking around, so we were a decent distance from the crowd. The conversation came to a pause for a moment where we were both just staring into each others eyes – I was staring in bewilderment and uncertainty, waiting on every syllable to see what his response was going to be…and I can't be certain but it seemed as if he was staring into mine in awe – of what I don't know…why he was staring at all – I don't know that either….but then he broke the silence saying, "Stop saying it's stupid. You're insulting the woman I love. Now allow me to clear up this uncertainty --- You are mine. I love you more then I think I've ever even known I could love and I don't ever want to stop --- that is if you'll have me? I guess I never really considered the fact you might not want this to be more then friendship…" he was smiling – knowing he had me at 'stop'.

Smiling myself, I said, "no no – yes." I giggled at my oxymoron, "I want that too…"

While still looking in my eyes, Edward uttered, "I love you. So much."

And as my heart fluttered from receiving those small little words, I responded saying, "I love you too – more then you'll ever know"

We were in a full on embrace now with our arms fully wrapped around each others bodies, and just to be funny I said, "So we're together?"

He chuckled and replied, "yes."

I started to giggle and then said, "And we're in love?"

To which he replied with a huge smile, "yes."

I had a plan and I was going with it so I simply let out a "hmmmm"

To which he replied, "what?"

So I shared my brilliance with him, as was my plan from the second the confusion was over, "Well, if we're together and if we're in love then I think we should make out."

He paused for a second before smiling and saying, "you want to makeout?"

I simply replied, "yes, I do."

He said something adorable that in the heat of the moment I forgot to remember before proceeding to ask me if I was sure I wanted to, to which I quickly replied "yes" after which he just looked at me and said , "ok, let's make out."

This had been a dream of mine for weeks now and so I immediately went to kiss him but he pulled back! I was a little stunned but then he looked me right in the eyes and whispered "no – stop – don't do anything – just stay still -- don't move." I was a little taken aback by his statement but I didn't want to ruin the moment by asking questions so I just went with it. He proceeded to kiss me – slowly and passionately, building a rhythm with each one. I got into it and tried to deepen the kiss, abandoning what he had told me, yet once again he pulled back and just whispered "no, let me" and as he continued I literally had to cling to his shoulders to keep myself from collapsing to the ground from the sensuality of it all. Then he moved to my neck. It was then that I lost it; I began kissing his as well to which he replied in his whispering way "there you go. You have it now." We went back and forth from lips to neck for awhile, completely oblivious to the world around us. It was one of those kisses that rarely get experienced – the kind that you can't stop thinking about for at least a week after the fact – the type that when you think about it your face gets warm and your knees go weak and you can't help but close your eyes – the memory of it causes a flood of emotion in your head, a surge in your heart and a fluttering feeling in your stomach. It was perfect. So perfect that the word 'perfect' doesn't come near describing it. I get hot and lose the ability to breathe when I remember it.

We separated after some time passed, just looked at each other and then kissed just once more before going our separate ways for the the evening. He had to finish his conversation with Emmet from before, and he joked that I probably had some explaining to do – if I wanted to- to the mass majority of party goers. I walked away feeling as if I was flying in the sky, floating on a cloud not knowing if I'd ever come down to earth again…

I did have a lot of explaining to do, but first I called Alice and Angela who were still together and told them about the whole thing --- I was dating Edward Cullen. I had to do restrain every fiber in my being so I wouldn't leap and squeal in excitement, but I managed to keep composure the entire night. After my phone call, I was fielding questions from what seemed like everyone and their mother…Edward joined me at one point to help deal with crowd control but he was more private about it then me so soon after he joined me we ended up going off on our own.

We walked around the lawn, sometimes in silence, at other points while softly whispering about things we wanted to do together and our futures. We settled under a tree and just cuddled for what seemed to be a blissful eternity but when I started to doze off on his chest he called it a night and walked me back to my room where he once again kissed me; I would never get over how surreal it all was. He promised that the next day he would pick me up for breakfast and so we could eat together, just the two of us.

I was expecting to be awoken at 11 for the dining hall weekend brunch. However that is not at all what happened. He woke me up at 8 am with a text message that read "Rise and Shine – We have a big day ahead of us. Get dressed I'm on my way to your room. 3"

We hadn't gotten to bed until 2 am – once again I wanted to kill him – but not really – it was too adorable to actually get full on mad about. I put on simple jeans with a light blue sweater and put my hair up in a bun. I was just finishing my makeup when he knocked on the door with a thermos of hot coffee, already made to the way I liked it: plenty of cream, and a lot of sugar! I asked him where we were going but he refused to answer, all I knew was we were the only passengers on the shuttle bus; I dozed off on his shoulder and next thing I knew we were at the ferry that we used to get into the city!

He still refused to give me any information. Once on the ferry he took me to the top deck and we were able to watch the sun rise over the statue of liberty and as we watched we talked a little about the night before and how happy we both were. Once the ferry docked he basically shoved me into a cab and as we whizzed through the abandoned streets of Manhattan on a Sunday morning we arrived at The Plaza Hotel!!! He was taking me to breakfast at The Plaza Hotel!!! Once inside he told me that he'd actually been wanting to take me here for weeks, ever since we discovered our shared adoration for pancakes…apparently according to him they had the cities best! After breakfast we took a stroll through Central Park. We ended up spending most of the day there, in fact; we climbed to the top of Belvidere Castle, took a ride on a horse and carriage and paid a visit to the zoo. It was a beautiful day and somehow it made it all seem real.

Once back at school I was confronted by massive amounts of home work, papers, and a touch up rehearsal for the show that he didn't have to go to; granted I was still happy but I was extremely stressed – it must've taken it's toll on me because by the following Friday's morning I had a burning sore throat and felt as if I was going to die. I still had to go to the show that night, so I walked around with a sweatshirt around my throat so I wouldn't get anyone else sick…When Edward came in and saw he tried to hug me but I pulled away telling him, "I'd hate myself if I got you sick too…." He just looked at me sympathetically and told me that after the show he'd get me medicine….

The show went by at the pace of a crawl. But, when it finally did end, Edward walked me back to his suite where he gave me enough Dayquil, Nyquil and Claritin to last me a lifetime… Then he walked me back to my room, made sure I took the Nyquil and tucked me (only after leaving the room while I changed into my pajamas, always the gentleman…) kissing me on the forehead before telling me to feel better. I was out like a light and actually woke up feeling a million times better, though my nose had begun to run like a faucet…

Once again I still had to work the show, and I arrived ahead of the cast as always so I was surprised to find Edward sitting in the front row when I walked in – he had brought me chicken noodle soup and a mug of tea. He told me to sit down and to not move until I finished, he was going to do my pre-show duties…I tried to object but it really was no use, once he set his mind to something he was very persistent.

By the end of the day I was feeling MUCH better so I accompanied Edward to this event where nominees for the theatre awards ceremony were going to be announced. The ceremony, which was in tradition always followed by the biggest party of the year was commonly called "the divas" after the highest award that could be won – the diva award….Anyway, Edward was the chair of the committee so he had to go and I went with him, my roommate Alice even tagged along. We danced a little but it was mostly about the announcements so he threw a party back at his place afterward, though not too many people came…

Something was going on and he was not himself, he was drinking a lot more then I'd ever seen him drink, and that was saying something. He had gone to the bathroom so I followed him and pulled him to the side to privately ask him what was wrong and he told me that it was the anniversary of the day his mom had died, three years prior – I hadn't even known his mom had died, he never talked about his family….I was horrified and didn't know what to do so I just said, "I'm so sorry – I had no idea."

He told me that "It's ok, there's no way you could've known – I don't talk about it – very few people even know…" He continued on in a sort of drunken rant that actually kind of scared me, but then he just sort of let it go and acted as nothing had happened and we walked back into the room. Alice saw my face and knew everything was not ok so she pulled me out into the hall and demanded an explanation, when I told her she helped me calm down and brought me back to rationality, because there was definitely a moment where I thought he was going to hate me after that incident – but Alice pointed out to me that he was drunk and probably wouldn't even remember any of it the next morning…

We walked back into the room and just to reassure myself I went over to him, he was sitting on the floor on a blow up mattress, and just quietly asked him in a whisper, "do you still love me?" and he looked at me, as he always did, with those bronze eyes of his and said, "of course I still love you – I'll never stop loving you."

At which point he pulled me close to his chest and down onto the mattress so we were just laying there together in a tight embrace. He had let me in and now it was me who he needed to get through it. More people arrived and so the moment was broken as the room became more of a party atmosphere, but I kept my eye on him the rest of the night and had to actually cut him off when I saw him drinking more. As the crowd began to thin out again he was getting messy, and I was grateful Alice had already left; he was all over the place and most were laughing but I knew it was deeper than just drunken antics so I made him lay down on the couch and just tried to calm him down so he could fall asleep…We kissed a little bit but only because he asked and as he started to doze off I just ran my fingers up and down his stomach to help him get to sleep faster. He finally fell asleep while holding my hand, and so without moving too much I was able to grab one of his sweatshirts that was near the couch and rolled it into a pillow to prop up his head so he'd be more comfortable. I sat there all night and eventually fell asleep too around 4am.

I woke up first and so I managed to get my hand free of his grasp and made some breakfast, just some instant oatmeal, since the rooms didn't have kitchens, and and a pot of coffee. He woke up maybe an hour later, totally unaware of why I was there, so I filled him in and he apologized profusely. We spent the morning together eating the oatmeal and sipping our coffee while watching cartoons on TV. Then we parted for a while so we could both get ready for the last show of the run.

After the show closed up, final exams began almost immediately so it was really hard to spend time together. We tried to meet up for at least one meal each day, and depending on the subject matter of our next exam we'd sometimes study together under a tree on the lawn…but for the most part we were suffering from separation anxiety and just spent a lot of time on the phone or texting…

We had decided that we were going to spend the weekend studying, and not cave and spend one of the nights together, because he was a senior and wanted to go out with a bang and we both wanted to do well anyway, so that was just the way it was…however on that Saturday, around 5pm, my phone began buzzing while Alice and I were chatting in our room while watching one of our favorite movies, Titanic. I picked it up and saw his name glowing on the tiny screen, I was excited, but slightly confused.

"Hey there," I answered.

"Hey." Is all he replied.

"What's going on?? How's the studying going" I prompted, wondering his reason for calling, when it was his idea to spend the weekend studying…

"Well, I don't like this whole, we're not seeing each other even though we actually can thing…" said he.

"It was your idea, sweetheart," I said sarcastically.

"That's true" he admitted, "but I changed my mind" he continued, "I'll be by your room in half an hour to pick you up."

"What? Where – where are we going??"

"Alice knows everything you need to know – I'll see you soon."

And just like that he hung up…I was bewildered and my face must have shown it because Alice was cracking up.

"What's going on?" I demanded of her.

"Well, you are going out for a night on the town!" Alice replied

"A night on the town??? How am I supposed to dress for a night on the town in half an hour?!?!"

"Relax. Edward already picked an outfit for you – I mean I helped, but I've got to say, it was mostly him…"

"Well where is this wonder outfit??"

"Right here", as she said that Alice reveled from her closet the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. It was short, with a swoop bough neck, champagne colored with a great flow to it, making it loose and able to twirl slightly near the bottom. It matched a pair of brown and gold heels I had perfectly. Alice did my hair up in a French twist while I did my makeup making me ready to go right on time.

I had just spritzed on my Chance by Chanel perfume when there was a knock at the door, Alice opened it and in walked Edward, looking handsome as always in a black suit with a champagne colored shirt and handkerchief in his pocket. He had a bouquet of pink roses and orchids with him which I received with joy – orchids are my absolute favorite flower. I hugged him immediately and despite Alice's presence kissed him for more than a short while. After putting the flowers in a vase and saying goodbye to Alice, Edward escorted me to the shuttle for another surprise journey.

Once again we ended up at the ferry, this time watching the sun set but unlike our first journey we were met at the gate of the ferry terminal by a driver – not a rushed taxi. Edward opened my door for me and then entered the car himself, the windows were tinted so we were completely in our own world. He poured two glasses of champagne, handed me one and then made a toast, "to the love of my life who has done more for me then she will ever know. I love you." We then clanked glasses and sipped; soft, romantic music played in the background and so we just sat together, me leaning on him, his arms wrapped around me, listening to the melodies that filled the air. It was such a beautiful moment that I almost didn't realize that the car had stopped when we arrived at the top secret destination. It turned out to be The Rainbow Room!

Known worldwide for its dinner and dancing I was beyond elated. We kissed at the entrance, because that was the only way I could express my excitement without releasing a squeal, he then placed his arm around me and led me up to the famous eatery. We enjoyed a glass of wine and some César salad before first taking the dance floor – yes I danced, and I actually danced pretty well -- to the sounds of the big band orchestra, as the whole world seemed to go back in time and we danced ball room style across the floor. After a number of songs, we went back to our table to enjoy the fine main course, which we enjoyed by candle light. We danced for the remainder of the evening, not leaving until near midnight. Once back in the car, we not only enjoyed a little more champagne but he also revealed a box of strawberries of both the plain and chocolate covered varieties. As we sat and drove to our next secret destination he began to massage my neck and shoulders, I literally thought I had died and gone to heaven. Before I knew it the car had stopped again – this time at the Empire State Building. He had asked his dad to pull a few strings, and had it opened to us for a private visit.

We rode the elevator to the uppermost deck visitors had access to and went out onto the outer deck. I was looking out over the landscape of Manhattan that lay below me, and he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, kissing my neck in the process. Our mouths met and we kissed for a few more moments before breaking apart; after, he took my hands and turned me towards him, pulling me close before saying, "Bella, we've been avoiding this for a while – but I am a senior, and I think we need to acknowledge that we only have a little over a week left together…."

That statement felt like someone pouring ice water down my back.

"Are you breaking up with me?" was all I could manage to say.

"No. Far from it…" was his response.

"Then can you explain why you would bring that up right now?" I said probably a bit more angrily then I should have.

He noticed the anger, proceeding to say, "hey – don't be like that – I brought it up now because I don't know about you but I would really like to stay together even though we won't both still be at school – and I'm anxious to know if you feel the same way…what do you say?"

"You scared me." I took a long pause to collect myself, "of course I want to stay with you – I was worried you weren't going to want to but as long as you do – I definitely do….I mean there will be some issues with it I guess but –"

He cut me off, "We'll work them out."

"Exactly." We kissed then and proceeded to enjoy the view as well as each others company. During the next few moments he whispered to me, "So for the end of the night you have a choice of two options."

I wasn't sure where he was heading with this, so I simply said, "Oh yea – and what would they be?"

"Well", he replied coyly, "we could go back to school and I'll walk you to your room before calling it a night or we could head over to secret destination # 3 and go back to school tomorrow morning…"

I smiled before saying, "Secret Destination #3 please."

He smiled as well saying, "I was hoping you would say that."

We headed back down to the car where this time around the glasses of champagne and the strawberries were traded in for short kisses that led to longer kisses that led to a full on make out session that did not end until the driver actually had to tell us we'd arrived. As we got out of the car, the driver handed Edward a bag from the trunk and then we proceeded inside, as we walked in I noticed where we were: The Carlysle. One of the most romantic hotels in the city.

As Edward checked us in, I snuck a text to Alice simply saying: "Did you know?"

To which she replied, "HaHa – I want to hear all about when you get back tomorrow – if you come back ;)"

We then rode the elevator up to one of the private suites. Upon entry I was completely speechless; there was a black, baby grand piano in the corner and a king size bed was visible through the entryway to the other room, there was a bucket of ice with champagne chilling and a plate with more strawberries next to it. In addition there was a whirl pool bubbling in the bathroom with gorgeous robes waiting on hooks for each of us; not to mention there were vases of flowers all over the room: orchids, daisies and roses of all shades and colors.

As we settled in, I had to ask, "what's in the bag?"

Edward chuckled to himself and then said, " I was waiting for when you were going to ask that….well there's clothes for both of us for tomorrow and pajamas for tonight as well as toothpaste and our tooth brushes…I owe Alice a lot.

"Wow…you thought of everything…" I said, still in shock at the perfection of the evening.

Edward walked toward me, and after holding my face in his hand for a second, he took my hand and said, "come here, I want to show you something."

He led me toward the bedroom, and I have to admit I was a little nervous until I saw it – there was a cot set up next to the bed.

I smiled and as he saw me he smiled as well, adding "just in case you change your mind."

I hugged him in that second, and we kissed, lingering in each other's arms, and then he pulled away saying, "oh – I almost forgot – there's one other thing that I need to show you or well --- you'll see."

A new wave of confusion washed over me but I followed anyway as he led me to the baby grand piano; he sat on the bench and motioned me to do the same as well.

Then he began to play the most beautiful piece of music I had ever heard in my life; he played with such passion and honesty, it truly moved me to tears – when he was finished he simply said, as if it was nothing, "I wrote that for you."

I couldn't believe it, I thanked him profusely and a small part of me still thinks it might have been a dream, despite now having it on a CD… I couldn't contain my joy and so I kissed him right there and suggested we go for a swim in the whirlpool.

I'm pretty sure he had envisioned a much more adult, sensual experience when he planned the whirlpool thing into the evening; however what ensued was a splashing war, which I won, and a very miniscule game of marco polo… we both calmed down though and did end up sitting serenely for a little while with small kisses being the only thing that broke our tranquil position of him sitting with me against him, perfectly still, just enjoying the moment.

The small kisses soon led to a transition however; we donned the fuzzy robes the hotel had provided and headed into the bedroom where a full on make out session began leading to much much more.

It was an absolutely perfect evening and when we awoke the next morning, the cot still in pristine condition, I think we both were a little wary to think it had been real life. We got dressed, got room service pancakes and headed back to school – not taking the ferry, we used the private car the whole way so we could bask in the memories a bit longer before heading back to reality.

After arriving back on campus, he walked me back to my room – thanking Alice for all her help almost the whole time. After he was gone, Alice and I sat on our beds for almost an hour hashing through every single detail of the night before. I felt like I was living a dream life and I was literally afraid as to when I might wake up.

We had another week of finals to get through, but afterward we were rewarded with the huge awards ceremony/party that was happening on that Friday. It was a huge event: first in the school's theatre we had the awards ceremony which Edward was in charge of and I was presenting an award at; then we took buses to a hotel where the party would be held with an open bar and a buffet of Chinese food.

Everyone was dressed to kill, but Edward and I were by far the best, if I do say so myself. Alice helped with my outfit: I wore a light pink, satin mini dress that had lacy straps and fell just about mid thigh and I had these great black pumps that she had put pink satin bows on to help tie it together. And then Edward wore a tux – but not just any tux – he wore a Versace tux. We actually were voted best dressed couple for the evening…The ceremony went perfectly and I had a blast presenting…I wasn't so happy when Edward and I had to separate due to the class assigned buses, but we reunited once at the party and were able to walk in together – it felt like we were really at a big awards show, red carpet and everything!

We ate a little of the Chinese food and had a drink before doing any major dancing, but once we did start dancing we really never stopped – unless it was to get a drink, we both were letting loose and we both were essentially gone by the end of the night – we went a little crazy at one point and had a major PDA moment on the dance floor where almost the whole party stopped around our obnoxious make out session. That resulted in a hickie on my neck and a lot of gossip about us the next morning, but we had fun so we didn't really care – we were "living life" as Edward likes to say. Alice was spending the night in the city with a friend from work, so when Edward walked me back to my room he ended up staying the night. Alice was pretty surprised when she walked in the next morning to find him with me in my bed….

Time was still passing, and it felt like it was speeding up, we both felt the clock ticking so Edward and I were spending as much time as we could together. With only three days left till I had to head home to Forks, we made a vow to not say any good bye type sad things until the actual day I left. On one of those last night's we were hanging out in the off-campus apartments with some friends but it as always got busted for noise complaints and so we walked back to campus and decided to hang out on the lawn with another group of people. As we walked we talked about our summer and when we would be seeing each other, trying to plan out visits around his busy schedule as an actor…

A lot of people were leaving that night or the next day so it was an evening filled with goodbyes and eventually it got to him and he literally broke down in tears – it took a lot for me to remain my composure in order to calm him down, but eventually I did and we sat under a tree with just maybe 2 other people and I wrapped my arms around him and he pulled me close to him, squeezing me tight and kissing my forehead as I told him "everything was going to be fine" and that "there was no reason to cry because he'd see everyone again when he visited next year"…after some time passed he still was a little upset so I walked with him back to his suite and we ended up just sitting on his couch, cuddling under a blanket while watching nick at night, we fell asleep like that. The next day he tried to apologize but I stopped him and told him that "there was nothing to apologize about – he's upset about having to leave a lot of his friends – it was natural to be upset" we pretty much just hung around his suite for the remainder of the day drinking coffee and ordering an early lunch of dominoes. We were both a little sad still from the night before and just wanted to be together, knowing it was our last night. He was having a last blast party later that evening, so I headed back to my room to shower and change a little after dinner time. After getting dressed I headed right back over, but I also knew I couldn't hog him because a lot of other people had to say goodbye – because I was definitely going to be hogging him the next morning.

I said goodbye's to a lot of other people in the mean time but at one point I was standing with Edward while he was saying goodbye to someone else and I lost it, he actually told me to stop but I couldn't so I just walked away from him and ended up pouring my heart out to this guy from the show who was an absolute sweet heart but wasn't really that close with me. Edward came over when he saw I was pretty much done venting to the boy named Jacob. He took me in his arms and told me it was all going to be fine. We changed locations a lot throughout the evening; starting in his room then moving to the lawn and then to a boy named Tyler's room. It was on the way to Tyler's room that my clutziness resurfaced full force; Edward and I were walking while holding hands and then we decided to run down the stairs. Well, Edward was going a little faster than me and next thing I knew I had fallen down a flight of 8 concrete steps! It hurt pretty bad, but I didn't want it to ruin my last night at school so after Edward picked me up I insisted I was fine, but he carried me to the room anyway. It was pretty chill and a lot of couples were there so PDA was not a problem; we made out numerous times and just sat together, not wanting the night to end… however I did have to be in my own room the next day, alone, so I could pack up the van my dad had rented to bring all of my stuff back across the country, and so around 4 am Edward walked me back to my room and gave me the longest good night kiss in the history of good night kisses.

The next morning was cloudy with a misty rain. I solemnly packed up the van with my dad and then called Edward. I walked over to his room, wearing one of his hooded sweatshirts over my t-shirt and jeans, not wanting him to have to face the rain. I got to his room and knocked on his door; upon opening it he pulled me into him right away. We just stood there for an unknown number of minutes, oblivious to time and the world surrounding us. We eventually moved to the couch where we just sat with our arms around each other, softly talking about how much we were going to miss each other and how glad we were we had met and gotten so close so fast and the plans for the summer. After what felt like seconds, I was forced to hand him back his sweatshirt, stand up and bring this good bye to a close – we hugged once more for what should have been an eternity, neither of us really wanting to let go, and then we kissed – just very light and small, almost a clone of our very first one. He walked me to the door and we glanced one last glance before I closed the door and headed to the van where my dad was waiting to take me back to Forks.

Edward had to stay at school for graduation and then he was going home for a few weeks before starting his gig in Connecticut, that's when I would be seeing him next – I'd be visiting him for about a week. And then in July he was going to come to Forks for my birthday before heading up to Port Angeles where he had a job working at a dinner theatre for a few weeks in August. After that he'd be living in Manhattan and his schedule would dictate when we got to see each other. It would be hard but it wasn't impossible and our love could definitely make it happen.

And it did. Today Edward and I, Bella Swan Cullen, have been married for almost ten years and are the proud parents of a daughter, named Renesmee. We still go see the shows at our old alma mater and live in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. He still takes me on adventures throughout the city, and we're still just as in love as we were the day we first declared it, if not more. I work as a director of both films and staged shows and Edward works as an actor on Broadway and also composes sometimes on the side.

We truly are living Happily Ever After.


End file.
